Attacks continue in Ukraine despite Russia's supposed ceasefire

Ukraine never accepted Russia's unilateral Christmas truce, dismissing it as an empty ploy, and Russian bombardment was just as intense than ever before in a hotly contested city.

BAKHMUT, Ukraine — There was no truce in Bakhmut on Friday. Russian artillery shells continued to streak overhead and smack into Ukrainian-held territory throughout the afternoon and evening, as they have for months, despite a supposed 36-hour ceasefire declared by Russia.

There were scattered reports of attacks elsewhere in Ukraine, but the clearest contradiction of the he promised lull in the fighting was in Bakhmut, in the eastern province of Donetsk, the scene of the war's heaviest recent fighting. The start time of the supposed ceasefire, Friday noon, has come and gone with no apparent respite in Moscow's efforts to force the Ukrainians to abandon this small town.

"Just listen," said a Ukrainian soldier, who used the nickname Navar, as he stood on an otherwise deserted city street at around 1:30 p.m. friday. The sound of small arms, the hiss of artillery and mortar shells, the thrill of explosions continued unabated.

The ceasefire assessment soldier fired: 'It was just public relations.'

Ukrainian leaders had never accepted the ceasefire, unilaterally announced by the Kremlin on Thursday and scheduled for Christmas in the Orthodox Christian calendar on Saturday, although Kyiv did not dismiss the idea out of hand. They dismissed it as a cynical propaganda ploy by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, as well as an attempt to give Russia's battered forces a break. Anyway, the Ukrainians said, they didn't trust the Russians to stop shooting.

ImageA resident of Kherson in southern Ukraine runs past a burning house hit by Russian shelling on Friday. several parts of the front, which stretches for hundreds of kilometers across southern and eastern Ukraine. Each side accused the other of initiating it, saying their forces were just defending themselves. It was not immediately possible to verify their claims, nor to determine the intensity of the fighting compared to the previous days.

But a cease -fire it was not.

Ukrainian officials and military analysts have warned that the Kremlin will use any respite to replenish battered units, transporting fresh troops, weapons and ammunition to the front. In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the Moscow government "wants to use Christmas as a cover" to regroup and thwart Ukrainian advances.

"Everyone in the world knows how the Kremlin uses lulls in the war to continue the war with new strength," he added, and he addressed the Russian people directly, in Russian, speaking of those who "sent all your people to be slaughtered". and "don't fight for peace".

Since invading Ukraine in February, Russia has endured international condemnation and isolation, and saw his war effort stumble. Political analysts said the Kremlin would try to use the Christmas ceasefire announcement – ​​which it presented only as an offer to allow soldiers and others on both sides to celebrate the holiday and to attend religious services – for a much-needed public relations boost. , both at home and abroad.